


More Than Just a Heart That's Beating

by cantfuckinbelievethis



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, M/M, but happy ending!, dex obviously never went to Samwell, past relationship, reunited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-16 03:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14155632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cantfuckinbelievethis/pseuds/cantfuckinbelievethis
Summary: Nursey just couldn’t get the image of driving away from his last summer in Maine out of his head. Looking in the rearview mirror, knowing it was the last time he would see him.Sure, he could go to Maine himself, but who knows if he would even be wanted anymore? Especially after what happened…(Nursey has a surprise visitor)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm feeling the angst lately!! 
> 
> Tumblr: cantfuckinbelievethis
> 
> Disclaimer that none of the characters belong to me, they're all created and owned by the amazing, Ngozi Ukazu!

Everyone in the Haus must have noticed Nursey’s current low mood, because the first morning of the long weekend, Bitty had made a huge breakfast, Jack and Shitty had come by to visit, Ransom and Holster were chirping him playfully at his mess of curls as he wandered down the stairs, and Lardo and Chowder were organising to have a game of shinny later. It wasn’t entirely clear that it was to cheer him up until C kept checking up on him every two minutes, asking if he was feeling better.   
  
    ‘I’m chill, C,’ Nursey said, smiling softly at his best friend for the fiftieth time that morning. ‘Thanks for checking up.’   
  
    He didn’t want to tell them the real reason he was feeling down lately. He knew they would never judge, but it seemed pathetic to him that bad dreams were getting him down, but that’s what it was. He just couldn’t get the image of driving away from his last summer in Maine out of his head. Looking in the rearview mirror, knowing it was the last time he would see him.   
  
    Sure, he could go to Maine himself, but who knows if he would even be wanted anymore? Especially after what happened…   
  
    When his parents divorced and he had to spend every summer in Maine with his father, who had surprisingly decided to start having fishing be a hobby and bought a house in Maine for the holidays, he’d thought it was the end of the world. His thirteen year old self had been horrified at the thought of leaving New York, especially for the summer when he was supposed to be hanging out with his friends. That first summer, despite his bad start, had turned out to be the second best summer of his life. The best had been his last summer there…well, until his dad told him he’d sold the house and they wouldn’t be coming back. Then it had all fallen to pieces, and now he didn’t know if he could ever go back, even two years later.   
  
    The worst part about the dreams is that he was sure they meant something. He was sure they meant something was going down in Maine that he should be there for, but he couldn’t be certain, so it just made him feel like shit, essentially.   
  
    The Haus worked hard to cheer him up, though, and it made him feel better knowing he had great friends to lean on. The game of shinny really helped too, although it did make him feel a small ache in his chest with memories of Maine. Lardo shouted from the sidelines, cheering them all on, except Shitty, who she constantly chirped every time he messed up.   
  
    They were all laughing and chirping each other as they stumbled back to the Haus. Although the day had been ‘swawesome, Nursey was feeling like he wanted to go back to bed and just let himself _feel_. He had to finish off an assignment where he had to write three sets of poems about something nostalgic, which wasn’t so great at the moment, but the day had given him some inspiration, so he hoped to get that started as well. Luckily the sky was beginning to darken, so no one would be concerned if he split off to do his own thing. Ransom and Holster had dates later, and Jack and Bitty probably wanted some alone time anyway.   
  
    Nursey was looking over his shoulder at C, who was trying to tell a joke he heard in class, when he heard Shitty go, ‘Uhhhhhhh. What’s up, bruh?’   
  
    ‘Hey, don’t I know you?’ Chowder questioned, interrupting his own joke.   
  
    At everyone coming to a stop, Nursey turned to see who they were talking to. His smile slipped off his face as his eyes met red hair and a ton of freckles — all attached to a very familiar, if older, face. Although he looked a bit messed up, he still was almost like a vision to Nursey, standing awkwardly on the Haus porch, eyes weary and cheeks flushed from the cold.   
  
    ‘…Will?’ Nursey said, almost as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes and needed clarification.   
  
    Will cleared his throat and adjusted his backpack on the one shoulder. ‘Hey, Derek.’ 


	2. Chapter 2

When Derek pushed past Will, dashing into the Haus and locking himself in his room, the rest of the team took it upon themselves to bring Will in. He was freezing his ass off, so he really appreciated them not locking him out. Not that they knew, but Will really had nowhere else to go. That wasn’t the only reason he came to Derek, though, that much he knew.   
  
    Two of the team, Ransom and Holster (and what kind of names were those?), sat him down, placing themselves on either side of him as Shitty (even stranger) stood in front of him on the other side of the table, flanked by Chowder and Lardo (seriously what the fuck). Bitty (sort of makes sense, Will guessed), had headed off upstairs to try and coax Derek out, followed by Jack (the only one without a weird name).   
  
    ‘What’s your name?’ Holster asked after introducing all of them.   
  
    ‘Uh, Will,’ Will responded, a little confused about the whole interrogation set up that was going on.   
  
    ‘Full name,’ Ransom demanded.   
  
    ‘William Poindexter.’   
  
    ‘Alright, Dex—’   
  
    ‘I don’t know if I—’   
  
    ‘Shitty will question you now.’   
  
    Shitty stood up, slamming his hands down on the table, making Will jump. ‘What did you do to Nursey to make him act like this?!’   
  
    ‘Yeah,’ Chowder murmured, confused. ‘He looks so… _unchill_.’   
  
    ‘Oh, fuck me,’ Will muttered to himself. Why did he get stuck being the bad guy _again_?   
  
    ‘Shits, calm down,’ Lardo huffed, pushing him to sit down. A moment later, she was leaning forward threateningly in her chair. ‘Answer the question, Dex! We won’t hesitate, bitch!’   
  
    ‘What the hell are you talking about? My name is Will, not De—’   
  
    ‘I know who you are!’ Chowder exclaimed excitedly, standing up. ‘You’re the guy in the pictures in Nursey’s room?’   
  
    Will’s breath caught in his throat at that information. ‘Derek has…pictures of me?’   
  
    ‘You’re from his summer vacations in Maine,’ Chowder continued on his own train of thought, ignoring Will’s question. ‘I found this poem once of his and it was for an assignment on heartbreak…’ Chowder looked up at him with big, sad eyes. ‘He told me it was about you…’   
  
    Everyone stared at Will, wide-eyed, as he hung his head as a heavy depression filled him. It was already there, under the surface, but now it’d broken out. Bitty and Jack came down the stairs, quietly murmuring to each other.   
  
    ‘Well, Nursey won’t come out of his room,’ Bitty announced, wandering over to Will and placing a hand on his shoulder. Will looked up and saw Bitty staring down at him with big, brown eyes. He gave him a sympathetic look and said, ‘He’s asked for you to leave…’   
  
    Will swallowed the lump in his throat, looking back down at his backpack. Shaking his head free of the fog, he nodded. ‘Yeah, yeah, of course…I…’ He stood, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and looking at the stairs for a moment before turning to the team. ‘Can you tell him…Just…that I’m sorry?’   
  
    He was about ready to head out the door when he turned back around, remembering his Plan B. ‘Hey, can you give him something for me?’   
  
    Everyone looked like they weren’t sure if they should, but Bitty stepped forward and held out his hand. Will dug out his letter and put it in Bitty’s hand. Thanking him, he stepped out of the house and stared at the freezing expanse in front of him.   
  
    Where was he supposed to go now? 


	3. Chapter 3

Nursey had his face buried in his pillow as he let the tears leak out, let his breathing slow down to normal, when there was another knock on the door.   
  
    ‘Go away, please,’ Nursey called out, sniffing. ‘I don’t want to talk to him.’   
  
    ‘He’s gone, honey,’ Bitty called out from the other side of the door, which hurt so much more, even though he had requested Will leave. ‘Now, c’mon, open the door or no more pies for a _week_.’   
  
    Nursey huffed, climbing out of bed and opening the door. He immediately went to crawl back into bed. ‘That’s just cruel, Bits.’   
  
    ‘Well, I knew it would work,’ Bitty said, sounding unapologetic. He sat on the edge of Nursey’s bed and held out an envelope. ‘Dex gave me this to give to you.’   
  
    Nursey frowned, eyebrows furrowing. ‘Dex?’   
  
    Bitty shook his head. ‘Oh, right, Will. Holster and Ransom got ahead of themselves and gave him a nickname.’ He placed the envelope down on the bed next to Nursey’s face. ‘He looked really sad, Nursey. Poor boy was practically shaking in his boots as he left the Haus.’   
  
    ‘He’s not quite the victim you imagine,’ Nursey huffed, annoyed but also feeling guilty as soon as he said it.   
  
    ‘I know I don’t know the whole story, Nursey, but I understand. Whatever happened between you two, I have a feeling I understand completely.’ Bitty gave him a pointed look before standing up. Looking at Nursey’s wall, he smiled slightly at the photo of him and Will. ‘You look pretty happy in this picture, I’ll give him that.’ After a moment, Bitty left the room and shut the door behind him.   
  
    Nursey looked down at the envelope, fighting with himself for a moment, before opening it. It was a simple letter and a picture of he and Will again. Only in this one, they were thirteen — the first summer they met. Nursey chucked the picture onto his desk, not wanting to look at it anymore. He opened the letter and took a deep breath before beginning to read.   
  
_Derek,_  
 _I don’t even know how to begin to say I’m sorry. I guess a start is telling you that you were right, though I hate even admitting it. Living a lie definitely ended up being “decidedly un-chill”. In fact, it ended up being incredibly fucked up. I missed you._  
 _I can’t stop thinking about the day we first met and I already had a huge crush on you. Then, almost suddenly, it was more than a crush. That last summer, when we finally got together, was the best summer of my life…until the end. I’m sorry for everything I said, and everything I did. I’m sorry that everything seemed to be more important than you. I was really mistaken; nothing is more important._  
 _I came out to my family, Derek. They kicked me out…I don’t really have anywhere to go now, but I’ll figure it out, because I don’t want you to have to live with me if you don’t want to. We would probably end up killing each other, like when we fought when we were first friends. I just thought you should know that I’m not living a lie anymore, just like you wanted. Turns out this is what I wanted more than anything, even though my family hating me hurts like hell. The chance to be with someone I love is important to me…even if the chance to be with the person I love the most is gone. I’m not good at words like you, but I’m hoping this will mean what I’m trying to make it mean. If not, here it is in the simplest way:  
I love you. _  
_Will._   
  
    Blinking down at the last few words, Nursey had no idea what to do. It was a lot of information at once and he had no idea what decision was right. His heart and mind were telling him two different things, but he knew he had to make a decision soon before Will was gone forever. So, he went to the people he trusted the most. Rushing downstairs, he explained a short version of everything that had happened and what the letter said. By the end, almost everyone was teary-eyed, except Shitty, who was full-on sobbing.   
  
    Nursey sighed, finally glad to have it all out in the open. ‘What should I do?’   
  
    ‘What does your heart say?’ Bitty asked, unsurprisingly.   
  
    ‘It says that I love him,’ Nursey groaned. ‘But my head says that it’s all just a bad idea.’   
  
    ‘Wait, so this guy had a horrible family who he was afraid to come out to,’ Lardo begins. ‘And then when you have a fight over it and you leave Maine for what he thinks is forever, he comes out to his family, gets kicked out, and comes to find you before anything else, correct?’   
  
    Nursey cleared his throat awkwardly, feeling like somehow she was trying to say something that was obvious that he wasn’t getting. ‘Uh, yeah.’   
  
    ‘Was he abusive or something?’ Chowder asked, eyebrows furrowing.   
  
    Nursey immediately shook his head, fiercely. ‘No, definitely not.’   
  
    ‘Then what are you still wondering for?’ Holster and Ransom asked in almost unison.   
  
    Nursey blinked, wondering if they were really saying what he thought they were saying. ‘Do you mean…?’   
  
    ‘ _GO TO HIM, YOU FOOL_!’ Shitty cried out, standing up from the table.   
  
    ‘Shits, calm down,’ Lardo muttered. ‘Get a hold of yourself.’   
  
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Shitty sniffed. ‘It’s all very emotional.’   
  
    ‘Well, it’s snowing now, how the hell am I supposed to find him?’ Nursey huffed, heading towards the door without thinking.   
  
    ‘I’ll drive,’ Jack spoke for the first time in what felt like the whole ~~story~~ —I mean, day…  
  
    Nursey nodded and they went out into the night. They were driving around for what felt like forever, but was probably only fifteen minutes. Eventually, they figured that Will must be somewhere near the bus stops, because where else would he have gone at this time of the night in the snow when he didn’t know campus? As Jack pulled up to the bus stops, Nursey could see a small light through the snow. He jumped out of the car before it even stopped and immediately fell over. Getting back on his feet and hoping Will didn’t see that in this romantic chase, he hustled over to the bus stop shelter.   
  
    He sat down next to Will, who turned towards him in surprise. He was flushed from the cold and all buried in his snow jacket, looking adorable. Nursey flashed back to their first kiss, when they went camping in the freezing cold. Will had suggested they get close for warmth and Nursey had kissed him. After a moment, Nursey had worried he had done the wrong thing, but then Will had kissed him back.   
  
    ‘Derek, what are you—?’   
  
    ‘It’s pretty cold out here, Will,’ Nursey commented, moving in closer and brushing a snowflake off Will’s cheek. ‘You know what I think we should do to keep warm?’   
  
    ‘Get close?’ Will asked, seeming unsure but hopeful. After a moment, he nodded and seemed more certain. ‘Yeah, real close.’   
  
    Nursey grinned before pressing his lips to Will’s like it had been forever, because, really, it had. They kissed for a while before Jack beeped. Nursey pulled away, laughing at Jack and waving at him to let him know he got it.   
  
    ‘So…’ Will began, once again seeming unsure of what was going to happen next.   
  
    Nursey beamed, cupping both of Will’s freckled cheeks. ‘I love you too, Poindexter.’   
  
    Jack beeped, once again ruining the moment. Nursey flipped him off and grabbed Will’s hand. Giving him another grin and pulling him up, he headed to the car.   
  
    ‘C’mon, _Dex_ , time to go home.’   
  
    When they finally got back to the Haus, everyone welcomed Dex back as if he had lived there all along. Eventually, once Dex got settled in and enrolled at Samwell, it really did feel like he had been who was missing from their little team the entire time.   
  
    Nursey finally felt whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this nurseydex fic is endless summer by grizfolk. Please listen to it and enjoy!! it's super cute :)
> 
> Also we're pretending it's just that easy to enroll in college cos idk how you do that in the US anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Why do I keep writing NurseyDex??? I have like five more ideas for other fics


End file.
